Fireplaces – Be Satisfied or Your Dream Home May Go Up In Smoke

To enjoy a quiet afternoons by the fireplace, during interior home checking make sure you check this area before you buy a home. Look for crumbling mortar around the brickwork. Is the chimney stable? There must be no obstructions. The flue must be lined with terra cotta. There must be a working damper in the fireplace. There must be no signs of deterioration in the chimney, either. This might mean loose bricks or gaps in the masonry. Wooden chimney chases rot if the water does not drain out of it.

Interior Home Checking: Check for Fireplace and Chimneys

It is worthwhile to conduct a thorough inspection of the fireplace and chimneys keeping the following points in mind.

Check the chimney caps and replace if broken. A cap fitted with wire mesh on the sides, covers the hole at the top of the chimney. This keeps away rain, birds, animals and rubbish from getting in. Moisture from the outside enters the chimney through cracked caps, porous masonry and mortar joints. If the moisture gets inside, it collects in cracked and damaged flue tiles, blocked flues and chimney caps. Moisture is a big problem causing chimney corrosion. Since flue gases are acidic, if they condense, they destroy the masonry and joints in metal flues.



Interior Home Checking: Check the Exterior of Chimneys

The exterior of the chimneys must be checked to see if there is crumbling masonry, missing flue liners or corroded metal vents. This is probably the third most expensive repair. Metal chimneys are prone to rusting. Look for dented or rusted metal and missing screws at joints. Check the metal liners. Masonry chimneys must be examined. The mortar must be inspected. Crumbling mortar must be replaced. Also look for cracked liners and missing bricks.

Fireplaces build up soot in the chimneys. This being a flammable deposit must be cleaned regularly. Wood and oil burners deposit soot in black streaks. Another shiny tar like product called creosote glaze is formed. This is more difficult to remove.

If the chimney is clean and there is smoke in the house, make sure the damper is open. If the smoke from the chimney is dense, it means the wood in the fireplace is not burning completely. The biggest problem is the risk of flow reversal, which will spill combustion products into the dwelling.

Chimneys must be moisture, gas tight, and carry the products of combustion to the outside atmosphere. Masonry chimneys exposed to moisture damage develop salt stains, eroded mortar joints and flaked cracks in the ceramic flue liner and caps.

If there is a broken or short thimble in the fireplace chimney, it can let in combustion gases to rise in the air space between the flue liner and masonry around it. This forms condensation stains in the mortar joints. It forms streaks on the outside of the chimney.